Terrorists have taken over an ocean vessel and are starting to execute civilians. You, a systems engineer, must try and stop the terrorists and prevent the entire ship from flooding.

Recommended Age

Minimum Age

Available On...

14

12

PC, Xbox 360, PS3

Overall Fun

Length

Frustration

Violence

Sexuality

Substances

Gambling

6

2

3

7

1

4

0

Mods

Religion

Anti-Law

Community

Sports

Magic

Miscellaneous

0

4

4

0

3

0

0

1. Gameplay

Overall Fun - 6

Occasionally game developers will release a game less to entertain players and more to showcase new works or technologies. Hydrophobia: Prophecy falls into that category. As a gaming enthusiast (gamethusiast?) the new technologies are fascinating to me and I was really glad that I played this game. However, from a purely entertainment standpoint, Hydrophobia left a lot to be desired.

How I would love to play games on that screen.

The premise of the game was weak at best. The player lives in some sort of city when terrorists attack and start killing civilians left and right. The player has to survive the terrorist attack and somehow figure out a way to save everyone. But what the player is specifically doing and why the terrorists attacked isn’t really featured prominently. It’s definitely there, the terrorists are trying to steal nanobots, but the gravity of the situation isn’t really pressed. So while I had no problem treating this game like a “get from point A to point B alive” situation, I never felt compelled.

Situations like this one helped a lot though.

But like I mentioned before, the new technologies were the highlight anyway. More specifically, the game had some absolutely amazing water effects. For those of you who have never worked in game development before, usually water is created with two simple steps. Developers first add the water’s surface onto a level (which is what you see when you’re looking down from the air at the water). Then the developers add an invisible box filled with “water” so that when the player touches the surface, the game simulates water. More recent games have made it so that a player wading through a water surface will cause things like ripples or splashes, but the water level never changes. Ever wondered why games don’t have large waves like real beaches do? It’d be absurdly difficult to code.

But evidently not for the developers of Hydrophobia. The water in this game actually flows and creates waves in a somewhat realistic manner. I say somewhat because sometimes the visuals can look a bit odd (waves with jagged edges), but overall it’s pretty awesome. For example, let’s say you’re standing in a room that has an ankle-deep level of water. The next room from you has chest-deep water that is held behind a closed door. When the door opens, the water flows freely from the other room into your room, evening out so that the water level in both rooms is about waist high.

Those waves in front of me are real, and I'll be forced to react to them.

This is actually a pretty impressive feat. The water is constantly present in levels and can be used for everything from putting out fires to knocking enemies off their feet. Walking in water slows down the player, while swimming in it can make things faster. Overall it was a pretty awesome mechanic and a great demonstration of something other games will hopefully include in the near future.

Water fountains! Yay!

From a story and game perspective Hydrophobia: Prophecy falls a bit short. But from a technological aspect, especially for those who are familiar with game development, it offers an interesting insight into new elements that are being included in modern video games. For those looking to understand where games will be going in the future, this game is tough to pass up.

Length - 2

The campaign is extremely short. It took me about two hours total to complete. There were still a number of collectibles that I never found throughout the game, but that’s hardly a reason to go through and attempt the campaign again. There is also a “challenge mode” where you can rack up points and try to beat your friends’ scores. However, none of my friends play Hydrophobia, so this was rather pointless. Even if they did, I’m not sure that I would care enough to reattempt chapters of the campaign just to prove that I am better than my friends.

Fortunately, this game is inexpensive (and even cheaper when it’s on sale), so I didn’t feel ripped off.

Frustration Factor - 3

Most of my frustrations with this game were pretty minor. Sometimes the places that I had to go were difficult to find or sometimes enemies could be a bit too accurate but most of the time the solution was relatively easy to find.

There was one exception that left me aggravated. In one section the player must climb an empty elevator shaft. At the top of the shaft is a broken elevator that will fall and crush the player if she doesn’t get to and somehow open a set of doors on a higher level. It took me far too long to pass this simple section.

I hate this elevator.

2. Parental Notices

Violence - 7

Violence in this game is, for the most part, fairly mild. The player will be given a pistol and will primarily use a sort of charged sonic round that mildly damages enemies. Blood isn’t usually seen from the shots when the target is on land.

Pew pew pew!

This changes if the target is underwater. Enemies that are shot underwater will bleed somewhat realistically. Puffs will form in a trail as the victim swims (or floats if dead) around the water.

Thicker than water.

There are some slightly more violent deaths that enemies can suffer. If an enemy is standing next to some sort of source of electricity, such as a fuse box, the player can shoot the source and electrocute the enemy.

Bzzzzzt!

There are also explosive barrels that can either throw an enemy a good distance (killing him in the process) or catch an enemy on fire. If the enemy on fire runs into water, the fire will go out and the enemy will survive.

There is no gore in this game.

Sexuality - 1

Towards the end of the game there are ads for a nightclub or strip club of some sort called “Clubb Staxxx”. The name and image seemed to imply that it was a strip club, but the player never actually finds the club.

Anyone else notice that the pole disappears after the girl's arm?

Substances - 4

The player will occasionally find pills around the level. The player doesn’t take these pills, just picks them up as a weird sort of collectible.

Sleeping pills, eh?

There is one distinct exception. When the player becomes infected by nanobots, she will have to find a temporary antidote. The antidote comes in the form of pills in a weird metallic case. The player is never actually seen taking the pills, she just picks them up and instantly absorbs them.

These pills almost look like metal weights.

The nanobots themselves seem like a sort of substance. They are transported in huge containers by people in hazmat protective gear. When the containers are broken, the people who are near the containers are are instantly infected and soon die. The only person who doesn’t die from the infection is the player.

Blue creepy-crawlies.

The antidote to the nanorobot infection is in a metal syringe. The player obtains it at the end of the game and injects it into herself. Strangely, the antidote looks similar (but a lighter blue) as the nanorobots.

Are syringes supposed to look like that?

Gambling - 0

Gambling is not a factor in this game.

3. Other Factors

Mods - 0

There are no mods available for this game.

Religion - 4

For some unexplained reasons, the terrorists are made to be ultra-religious. They constantly talk about sins and cleansing the world. Their motives behind the attack seem to be that they believe that all people are inherently evil. Therefore, the only way to cure the world of evil is to destroy all of humanity. It’s a pretty shallow premise and is not explained at all (no mention of religious text, leaders, etc.).

Dude, you forgot your pulpit.

Anti-Law - 4

It’s hard to get more anti-law than terrorists murdering police officers and innocent civilians. This happens somewhat infrequently throughout the game, but it is constantly mentioned.

On the screen: terrorists executing hostages.

The terrorists work to remove the security force first. This includes killing the Chief of Police on live television. The player gets to watch the event unfold on a screen.

One of the terrorist leaders about to execute the Chief of Police.

Online Community - 0

There is no multiplayer game mode for this game.

Extreme Sports - 3

In some sections the player will be required to climb up objects such as broken poles and beams in order to get to higher routes. These instances also sometimes include requiring the player to swing across a gap via a crossbeam.

Ever wondered what flows through red horizontal pipes in an elevator shaft?

The player will also be required to swim long distances. This may not seem like much of a sport, but try holding your breath and swimming across an Olympic-sized pool without coming up for air. The player’s character is able to swim an absurdly long time without needing to come up for air.

No, its okay. Take your time. Swim a while.

Magic - 0

I am going to give the game the benefit of the doubt in this case. The main character is eventually infected by “nanobots” and, as a result, is somehow able to manipulate water telekinetically. While the game never explicitly explains how this process occurs, it does make it clear that the player’s ability to manipulate water is a direct result of the nanobot infection. As a result, magic is not a factor in this game.